In telecommunication systems and especially mobile telecommunication systems like the Global System for Mobile communication (GSM) or the Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS), different network elements like the Home Subscriber Server (HSS), the Mobile-services Switching Center (MSC), the Serving General packet radio service Support Node (SGSN), the Call Session Control Function (CSCF) are realized by server applications operating on server platforms (a good overview is given in 3GPP Technical Specification Group Services and System Aspects; Network Architecture (Release 5), TS 23.002, version 5.5.0 (2002-01)). In the content of the following text, a server application is understood by computer software installable on a server platform that is a hardware computing device. The server platform may be supplemented by software like an operating system necessary for operating the server application. The server application operating on the server platform forms the respective network element as mentioned above.
A dedicated server platform allows the operation of a specific type of server application. Other types of server applications cannot be processed by the dedicated server platform. A dedicated server platform incorporates dedicated hardware and/or software components that are specifically designed for the operation of a specific type of server application. These dedicated components exclude other types of server application from the operation on the dedicated server platform.
The usage of dedicated server platforms takes a lot of effort to develop, to manufacture, to install and to maintain many different dedicated server platforms for many different types of server applications in parallel. Server platforms that allow the installation and operation of multiple types of server applications on a single server platform are therefore advantageous compared to dedicated server platforms. A server platform providing such functionality is often named common server platform and uses common processing components that are accessible and sharable by the server applications. Examples for such common processing components are processors, memory devices, operating systems, signaling terminals, interworking devices, line terminals, or codecs. The processing capacity set up by the common processing components of a server platform defines a maximum processing capacity usable for processing one or more server applications on the server platform. Examples for the maximum processing capacity are a maximum number of computing steps per time unit or the maximum static or dynamic memory, a maximum processing capability or equivalent numbers like the maximum number of subscribers that can be served by a server platform of a mobile telecommunication system.
When multiple server applications are operating on a server platform, the server applications typically compete for processing capacity. In peak situations when the processing capacity required by server applications approaches or even exceeds the maximum processing capacity of the server platform a troublesome operation of the affected server platform or server applications can be expected. As a consequence, the server platform or one or more server applications can fail or the Quality of Service (QoS) provided by server applications can be reduced. Examples for a reduced QoS are delayed or disturbed voice or data transmission or even the loss of a connection. If no control mechanism is applied, the server applications compete in an uncontrolled way for processing capacity. This uncontrolled competing is especially unsatisfactory for server applications offering services where a troublesome operation may not be tolerable. As an example, heavily disturbed voice calls are generally not tolerated whereas a delay in data traffic e.g. for messages via emails or short-messages system (SMS) may be tolerated to a certain extent by the user of a telecommunication system.
A configuration of the server platform overcomes the problem of an uncontrolled competing for processing capacity to a certain extent. A fraction of the maximum processing capacity of a server platform can be assigned to a server application for processing said server application. Further server applications that may be installed to the server platform or operating on the server platform are excluded from being processed by the capacity fraction. Depending on the implementation, further fractions of the maximum processing capacity may be reserved for further server applications thus setting a fixed upper limit for the processing capacity that can be utilized per server application. The assignment of a capacity fraction of the maximum processing capacity can be achieved during installation of the server application or during operation by an operator, e.g. directly at the server platform or remotely via an Operation and Maintenance (O&M) center by setting a value for the capacity fraction for the server application. After the assignment, the fraction of the maximum processing capacity that is reserved for processing the respective server application remains fixed until the operator decides to assign a new value.
The present management possibilities like the installation of a server application to a server platform, the de-installation of a server application from a server platform, or the assignment of a fraction of the maximum processing capacity of a server platform to a server application, are static and do not adequately address the required processing capacity of one or more server applications in the telecommunication system. The required processing capacity typically changes over time, e.g. due to a change in the number of subscribers registered to a server application, or is influenced by events like failures or system procedures like location updates. A management by configuration does not adequately address especially changes or fluctuations of the required processing capacity thus leading to a reduced performance of the server applications or the server platforms of the telecommunication system. In addition, a management by configuration is not capable to optimize the utilization of processing capacity. For example, the fraction of the maximum processing capacity may be assigned for the processing of a server application such that the expected peak utilization may never be exceeded. This configuration approach ensures optimum performance for the server application while leaving portions of the capacity fraction unused in non-peak situations. A higher utilization of the capacity fraction is achieved for a configuration where the fraction is assigned for example to the average of the expected utilization fluctuations, which is, however, at the expense of troublesome operation in peak situations. In addition, the operator-executed management is very inefficient as it needs a lot of manpower for supervision and executing the management, and is very likely to be unreliable, especially if multiple server applications on multiple server platforms are managed.